Background: The purpose of a prospective randomized study was to compa
re the surgical trauma in patients undergoing laparoscopic or open her
nia repair. Methods: Postoperative pain, analgesic consumption, and me
tabolic response to surgery were assessed in 30 patients undergoing la
paroscopic (group 1; n = 15) or open (group II; n = 15; Shouldice repa
ir) unilateral inguinal hernia repair. Both groups were comparable wit
h respect to age, sex, and type and size of inguinal hernia. Results:
Postoperative visual analogue scales (VAS) for pain were reduced on mo
bilization for patients of group I with a significant difference (P =
0.02) on the operative day, whereas pain scores at rest and analgesic
requirements were similar for both groups. No differences between grou
ps I and II were found in postoperative levels of interleukin-1, inter
leukin-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen,
transferrin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, and white blood cells, Postoperativ
e polymorphonuclear (PMN) elastase concentrations remained within norm
al range in group II but showed a significant increase in patients ope
rated laparoscopically for postoperative days 1 and 2. Conclusions: No
major surgical trauma was found after herniorraphy compared to open h
ernia repair.